The notion of blessing continued to be linked to divine protection; protection from evil, and strength and prosperity; both physical and spiritual. However, this reality had been enriched by the Incarnation of the Word, for the God-Man himself left His blessing to those who were the first living stones of the Church He founded: “Then He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them. While He blessed them, He parted from them, and was carried up into Heaven” (Lk 24:50-51).
Our Divine Founder, desiring our holiness, made us heirs of the blessing(cf. 1 Pt 3:9) and left us the Church as a mother, endowing her with special privileges in the distribution of her riches (cf. Rom 15:29), through her sacred ministers. Thus, although the blessing is pronounced by men, it ultimately comes from God.3
Healing souls and healing bodies
With the sacramental, the Holy Church has attached to certain objects and gestures, accompanied by a movement of reverence towards God and divine things, the forgiveness of venial faults and the obtaining of spiritual benefits. Unlike the Sacraments – which directly produce grace – sacramentals dispose us to receive it.4They include priestly blessing, the use of blessed medals and scapulars, and the simple act of blessing oneself with holy water.
It should be remembered that the power of blessing and of blessed objects also extends to the healing of bodies. Let us illustrate with a few examples.
A noble lady of Antioch once sought out St. John Chrysostom to pray for the healing of her youngest son, who was seriously ill. The Saint followed the path indicated by the lady and upon arriving there he gave a blessing to the dying lad and sprinkled him with holy water. The grace of healing was obtained in short order.
Another case, in Italy, concerned a little girl suffering from such a severe case of mumps that it threatened to be fatal. She could take nothing but a little milk, and even that with great difficulty. Although the doctors had given her up for dead, her uncle did not hesitate to ask for help from a priest with a reputation for holiness, called Leopoldo, who lived in Padua. The priest gave him an apple that he had blessed and told him to give it to the child. Upon receiving the fruit, the young girl ate it eagerly and soon recovered.
The healing of souls, however, is often more miraculous and impressive… In 1904, an event occurred which proves the existence of a special power in blessed objects of piety.
In the Spanish city of Lleida, a young man of scandalous life was admitted to the hospital after having received two stab wounds. In spite of his serious condition, he blasphemed and threatened to attack anyone who tried to talk to him about God. This earned him the epithet “the devil”. The nuns caring for himrealized that human solutions had been exhausted and appealed to a “higher authority”. Redoubling their prayers for the unfortunate man, they covertly placed a blessed Miraculous Medal under his pillow. Shortly afterwards, “the devil” asked a priest to attend him in Confession, showing sincere repentance for his faults.